How many quarto editions of Richard III were printed?
Richard III was published in eight quarto editions, beginning with Q1 in 1597. It is generally assumed that Q1 was produced from the recollections of actors who had performed the play, and although it contains valuable stage directions, it is not the authoritative copy. Neither are any of the subsequent quarto editions, all based on Q1. The version on which most of our modern editions are based is found in the First Folio (1623). The text of Richard III in the First Folio seems to have been derived from a unique source, likely Shakespeare’s own copy of the play.
